Mel Kiper Jr., Field Yates and Mike Greenberg used ESPN’s October 14 episode of First Draft to spotlight 2027 NFL Draft prospects with unusually strong physical traits and production. We took the seven individual prospects discussed before Yates’ separate running-back segment and ranked them strictly by athletic profile.
Important: these are not NFL Combine results. Most of the 2027 class has not gone through standardized Combine testing yet, so this ranking uses verified track marks, school/program testing, GPS speed, publicly reported weight-room numbers and position-specific movement. When a squat, bench, clean or 40 time is not publicly verified, we leave it out rather than invent one.
ESPN’s First Draft episode that inspired this ranking.
How We Ranked Them
For receivers and defensive skill players, the biggest factors were speed/explosiveness, size-adjusted athleticism and verified strength. For linemen and linebackers, mass-adjusted speed and strength matter more. For quarterbacks, we used movement, designed-run efficiency, scramble success and functional throwing athleticism rather than treating a bench press as a QB skill.
| Rank | Player | Best public athletic data |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nyck Harbor, WR | 6-6, 243; 10.1 100m; 20.20 200m; 23.8 mph GPS |
| 2 | Justin Bowick, WR | 6-5, 209; 500+ squat; 22+ mph GPS; 1.36 10-yard split |
| 3 | Arion Carter, LB | 238 lb; 42.5-inch vertical; 400 bench; 21.7 mph GPS |
| 4 | Emmanuel Oyebadejo, DL | 6-6, 299; 375 x 5 bench; 20 mph GPS |
| 5 | Deuce Alexander, WR | 6-0, 180; 23+ mph GPS; former 200m/400m sprinter |
| 6 | Arch Manning, QB | 6-4, 220; reported 4.6 40; 11.2 Y/A on designed runs |
| 7 | Kingston Lopa, S | 6-5, 210; non-Combine 4.65 40 estimate |
7. Kingston Lopa — S, California
Lopa is the hardest player here to score because his public testing sheet is thin. The attraction is obvious: Cal lists him around 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, and NFL Draft Buzz lists a non-Combine 4.65 forty. His functional athleticism showed up against Syracuse, where he intercepted three passes, returned one for a touchdown and covered huge amounts of space from the safety position.
Cal’s Syracuse highlights include Lopa’s game-changing interceptions.
6. Arch Manning — QB, Texas
Manning gets graded differently because quarterback athleticism is not a weight-room contest. On3’s 2026 QB Impact Study lists him at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds with a reported 4.6 forty. In its film sample, Manning averaged 11.2 yards per designed run, with four of 16 designed carries gaining at least 10 yards; his scramble sample also cleared nine yards per attempt with a success rate above 60 percent.
SEC highlights show Manning’s movement and scramble ability against Oklahoma.
5. Deuce Alexander — WR, Ole Miss
Alexander is pure speed. The 6-foot, 180-pound receiver was a high-school 200- and 400-meter runner and has been clocked above 23 mph on Ole Miss GPS, reportedly the fastest mark on the roster. The missing piece for this exercise is published weight-room data, so we cannot compare his bench, squat or clean directly with Bowick or Carter.
A short Ole Miss reel shows Alexander’s burst and open-field acceleration.
4. Emmanuel Oyebadejo — DL, Florida
This is where size-adjusted athleticism starts getting ridiculous. Florida lists Oyebadejo at 6-foot-6 and 299 pounds. A Florida teammate said he was benching 375 pounds for five reps, while Florida coverage reported 20 mph GPS speed at roughly 12 percent body fat. In his Power Four breakout at Auburn, he produced 2.5 sacks and seven pressures in 37 snaps.
This short clip shows the 299-pound defender’s burst during his 2.5-sack SEC debut.
3. Arion Carter — LB, Tennessee
Carter has the best verified all-around testing sheet outside the top two. Tennessee program testing lists a 42.5-inch vertical, 400-pound bench and 21.7 mph GPS speed. Doing all three at linebacker size is what separates him: explosion, strength and pursuit speed all show up in measurable form.
Tennessee’s official feature includes Carter’s sideline-to-sideline defensive highlights.
2. Justin Bowick — WR, Oklahoma State
Bowick combines receiver length with numbers that look more like a much smaller athlete. Oklahoma State reporting credits the 6-foot-5, 209-pound wideout with a 500-plus-pound back squat, more than 22 mph on GPS and a 1.36-second 10-yard split. He has also turned those traits into production, reaching 442 yards and five touchdowns through five 2026 games.
Oklahoma State’s official Bowick feature accompanies a season in which his size, speed and contested-catch athleticism have become a draft storyline.
1. Nyck Harbor — WR, South Carolina
Harbor is the clear No. 1. NFL scouts measured him around 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds with an 82.5-inch wingspan. He has run 10.1 in the 100 meters and 20.20 in the 200 for South Carolina track, and Bruce Feldman reported a 23.8 mph GPS peak while Harbor weighed about 235 pounds. That combination of NBA-wing size and legitimate track speed is the rarest athletic profile in this group.
Harbor’s football highlights show what 10.1-second 100-meter speed looks like at roughly 240 pounds.
The Bottom Line
This is our athletic ranking, not Kiper’s draft board. Harbor owns the most extreme speed-to-size profile. Bowick has the best published receiver blend of acceleration and weight-room strength. Carter may have the most complete verified testing sheet. Oyebadejo’s 299-pound movement is almost absurd, while Alexander supplies elite pure speed. Manning is an unusually mobile quarterback, and Lopa’s rare safety frame is already translating into playmaking.
The exercise also illustrates why NFL evaluation cannot stop at testing numbers. BitcoinVersus previously examined how Lamar Jackson’s draft evaluation went wrong and ranked five famously questionable NFL Draft evaluations. Athletic testing matters, but football skill and projection still decide whether the athlete becomes the player.
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